Arty Fibreglass Cow Goes Missing

The brightly-coloured fibreglass cow was part of the Cow Parade, an international event that has visited more than 18 cities around the world.

The cow, worth 2,850 euros ($3,437), was stolen at the weekend and is still missing according to the organiser Martin Racman, who added that the cow was intended for auction at the end of the parade, to raise money for children's charities.

More than 50 cows have been vandalised since the parade began in June, but this is the first one to be stolen. It was numbered 138, out of 214 cows on display around the capital.

""We have a lot of damage to the cows, but that is not so big a problem because we can repair them,"" Mr Racman said.

The exhibition started in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1998 to increase tourism and commerce. Since then it has raised more than $12.8m worldwide for charitable causes.